


like a candle in the water

by alittleunstable (orphan_account)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 'lance don't tell her about that one time in maoi, 'no i don't want you two to be bros', 'please don't talk about me to each other oh no no no no', F/F, F/M, Jemma just wants everything to be sunshine and lollipops again, Ward is really unstable, also delusional, and then there's this business of skye, bobbi and jemma are both confused, bobbi is v/confused, but it's still pretty triggery, except this time it's not that simple, jemma and lance become besties basically, she's his guard dog, skye is not, the angst is minimal despite the central subject, the rape isn't graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-13 01:19:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3362438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/alittleunstable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything was completely screwed up from the word 'go' in Jemma's opinion. But it's still no fun to be the centrepiece of it all.</p><p>or, being abducted by your best friend's ex boyfriend isn't good for the soul. Or the very new relationship that's been forming between Jemma and Bobbi, the same one that Skye wants in on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She doesn't understand why of all people, he took her. It made no sense to her mind, because even when he was pretending to be their friend, he treated her like a little sister, not someone he was romantically interested in. The thought makes her gag and she tries again to wriggle herself off the bed before he comes back, but her wrists zip locked underneath her make it difficult. She’s moved only several inches when he returns, his smile almost crazed and a pair of scissors in his hand. She thinks, horrified, for a moment, that he’s going to start cutting her up, but instead he slides the scissors across the material of her dress and she shuts her eyes tightly. This isn’t how she anticipated ending her night. She’d expected to be curled up in bed with Bobbi, watching Scrubs and probably being interrupted by Mack and Fitz wanting to use their hotel room’s gaming system. 

 

She’s not even really sure where she is, except that it’s dark and dirty and she heard mice earlier. The harsh air hits her skin as it’s revealed to him and she wants to scream but she can’t make her lips move, and then his hand is between her thighs, jerking them apart. Her lips fall open then in a series of whimpered pleads but Ward just frowns at her like she’s a naughty child. 

 

“Shhh, Skye.” 

 

Her blood runs cold. He’s actually insane. He thinks she’s Skye. Oh god, this was meant to be Skye. What happens when he realizes that she’s not Skye? Her heart beats wildly and she tries with even more desperation to move away, he’ll kill her. He’ll kill her after he rapes her and there’s nothing she can do about it. 

 

He holds her down and manoeuvres himself between her legs and she really does scream this time because this can’t be happening. It just-It can’t. She’d only gone outside for some air with Trip and then-Then she was here. Her screams turn to sobs when he starts thrusting into her, soft whispers of Skye’s name on his lips and sweat sticking to his brow. She can’t look anymore at his face, the bile rising in her throat is choking her and her fight is leaving too, now. She turns her head to face the wall and stares at it, blankly, until it’s over. He cleans himself up, after, and then tells her he’ll be back, that they’re going to Vegas to marry and she’ll finally have a last name instead of being just Skye. 

 

She’s not Skye. 

 

Her body aches from being pinned to the bed, her arms are full of pins and needles from being underneath her with the pressure of his body on them, but that’s not what hurts the most. He wasn’t gentle. She wants to hate Skye. She thinks it would be easier, but she can’t. It’s not Skye’s fault that her crazy lunatic almost-ex thought she was Skye and raped her. And it’s not like she’d have preferred him to have actually kidnapped and raped Skye instead, so she lies in agony with nobody to blame. 

 

She hears the door slam open about an hour later, and she’s really not ready to go again, she’s in so much pain and she thinks he may have tore her a bit, so she doesn’t roll over right away. She kind of hopes he thinks she’s passed out- He’s in love with Skye, or so he says, so maybe he’d take her to a hospital- But it’s not Ward’s voice she hears then. 

 

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ,” 

 

Her head jerks up and she looks at Lance with wide, disbelieving eyes. And then she starts crying again. 

 

“Hey, it’s alright. I gotcha, love.” He takes his jacket off slowly, so as not to startle her, and then breaks her zip lock, and letting her reach for the cover herself. He waits until she’s zipped it up to call out to the others, “I found her, we’re in here!” 

 

She doesn’t move once she’s wrapped, just sits, the jacket resting high on her thighs, and wonders if Skye’s alright. Maybe that’s why they found her. Because Skye got taken, and Ward left clues. She’s wrong though, because the next person to come through the door is Skye herself, who stumbles as soon as she catches sight of Jemma and realizes what’s happened to her. Bobbi shoves past Skye, only hesitates for a second and then very slowly, very gently wraps her arms around Jemma. Who promptly passes out.


	2. and maybe there's a chance we can make things better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma wakes up. Lance is good at comforting, even if he doesn't think so.

She wakes up to a strange pinkish-black blur looming over her, and she's fairly certain it's talking to her in a British accent. That alone is enough to make her squint, confused, but the blur clears as soon as she blinks a few times and she realizes that it is actually, in fact, Lance Hunter, clad in his usual black gear, his face contorted in concern and panic.

 

"The Doc's told me you wouldn't be waking up for a while," He says, words rapidly firing, "Fuck, I'm no good at this comforting thing-"

 

"What?" Her throat feels like somebody decided to have a family campfire inside it, and she coughs a little, staring at Lance like he's got four heads. Which, when she tries to sit up, the dizziness induces a vision of.

 

"Whoa, love," Lance murmurs, voice suddenly soft, "Don't sit up,"

 

"What-" She repeats, but that's when her mind catches up with her and she only just manages to move the arm he's got on her shoulder away in time to miss it when she lurches to the side and vomits. Her nose runs and her face feels hot when she pulls back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and averting her eyes from the _male_ agent sitting across from her. His silence stirs anxiety in her stomach, but after a few moments, she can hear him cleaning up the mess she's made.

 

Lance Hunter. Cleaning up _her vomit_. Without a single complaint.

 

She doesn't thank him, though, because she wasn't sure how to phrase it. Or what to say, really. She feels like she's been hollowed out and her personality was a casualty of the process.

 

"Bob only left a few minutes ago. But she and Skye, they've been here the last sixteen hours straight." His words are soft and she can almost feel the holes his eyes are burning into her, but she can't make herself look at him. He found her, though, she remembers. He was the first one to see what...what **_He'd_** done to her. She must have looked so disgusting.

 

"Alright." She hadn't planned to say anything at all, but the word come out even so, and her eyes dart up to look at him, trying to get a lock on his expression, whether there was any disgust or irritation in his gaze. She had to look away again when all she saw was fear and worry, so uncharacteristic. "When will they be back?" She asks the floor, but it's Lance who replies, not the tiles.

 

"In an hour, I'd guess. Told her to shower and have a power nap. Not sure about Skye."

 

She nods, and sinks into the bed, pulling the flimsy, scratchy blanket up and over her shoulders, the hospital gown feeling much to thin. She wants to be wearing layers, maybe a sweatsuit. Something loose. Something thick. A barrier. He doesn't make her talk for a while, just sitting there, reading a book. She catches a glance at the title and thinks that normally, she would've laughed. He's reading _Legally Blonde_ , but the tiny hint of a smile drops off of her face when he looks up and meets her eyes. She moves her panicked gaze to the holes in her thermal blanket then, trying to control her breathing.

 

"Do you know how to make an origami Swan?" He asks, out of the blue a few moments later. She frowns at the oddness of the question, and shakes her head. "Ah. Kay, well, do you know how to make anything?" His eyes widen and he quickly backpedals, "Origami, anything Origami. I know you can make things. You're really good at making things, I appreciate all of the things you've made, especially for use in the field-"

 

"I can make a hat," She sighs, just to end his rant. Normally he probably would have just laughed at how his question sounded, but he was already treating her differently. She supposed that had more to do with how differently she was acting as well, but the point still stood. "I'll make you one. Give me some paper." She's proud of how steady her voice is.

 

When Bobbi and Skye return- Simultaneously, she might add- She's sitting up in bed, allowing her blanket to slide down just a touch as she and Lance make as many origami hats as they can, for no apparent reason. They're up to thirteen, fifteen once they both finish the ones they're working on in complete silence, and Bobbi and Skye both stop in the doorway, looking baffled.

 

"Hey, Jemma," Bobbi announces her presence, and Jemma looks up at the two women, both of whom she has more than friendly feelings for, and feeling something inside of her relax a little bit. Even though Lance has been, well, frankly, very therapeutic. She'll have to make time with him again, she thinks, if he has any interest in that. He was probably just entertaining the traumatized teammate, though, if how quickly he stands up is anything to go by. Except, he looks back at her as he's walking past and tells her,

 

"I've put my number in your phone."

 

She manages a small head tilt, and then Skye's sinking her butt into the end of the bed while Bobbi's settling in the chair next to said bed, and then they're both looking at her expectantly.

 

"Do you think you can tell us what happened?" Skye asks, and Jemma's suddenly hit with the memory of Skye's name on Ward's tongue, Ward's body on hers, promises spilling from his lips and she recoils, staring at Skye and wondering if maybe, that's a detail she should keep to herself.


End file.
